STILL NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME: EV Push Worries Car Dealers Facing Disillusioned Buyers.

As inventories of electric cars grow faster than sales, car dealers are feeling increasingly discouraged by their prospects, according to a quarterly survey from Cox Automotive, the parent company of Kelley Blue Book. A dealer sentiment index derived from the survey shows sales expectations haven’t been lower since at least 2021, when Cox first started asking about EVs.

“The excitement that existed a year ago around EVs has definitely faded,” Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke said in a news release last week. “The EV transition is requiring more effort from dealers than before, so it makes sense that enthusiasm has declined.”

Electric vehicle sales are growing — a record of over 300,000 vehicles represented a 50% increase in the third quarter — but they still make up less than 8% of total car sales in the U.S., according to Cox. In interviews with the Wall Street Journal, auto dealers said customers are reluctant to switch to all-electric cars over concerns about price, reliability and a dearth of charging stations.

Biden wants EVs to make up half of all new car sales by 2030 — and if he can crush gas-powered sales down hard enough, he might just make it!